Thursday, March 3, 2011

Review: Legacies

THE STORYSpirit White just recently become an orphan. Her mom, dad, and sister all perished in a car accident that left her in the hospital for weeks until she was informed an institution by the name of Oakhurst Academy put up the money to pay her bills and is to bring her under their care per her parents request. Though she has no home to go to since it mysteriously burned to the ground not long after the accident, she's not entirely excited to be shipped off to the middle of Montana either.

On the way to the school via expensive car and private jet, Spirit meets fellow orphan and new Oakhurst initiate Lachlan, and they both learn they are Legacies–one or both of their parents also attended Oakhurst. Upon arrival, both Spirit and Loch are taken to meet Doctor Ambrosius and are enlightened with yet more shocking information. Turns out the students of Oakhurst possess magical gifts, and the academy is in place to help the students learn and harness their abilities.

When it's Spirit's turn to find out what gift she has, nothing happens, and though everyone insists the ability is there, it refuses to manifest and Spirit finds herself an outcast among outcasts. She doesn't have much time to dwell on her feelings of inadequacy though when students at Oakhurst start going missing, though no one seems too worried other than Spirit and her friends. They soon learn these are not the first students to disappear, and it turns out Oakhurst is hiding a secret deeper and darker than the magic it teaches.

MY THOUGHTSLegacies is a story not entirely original in nature, focusing on a boarding school for students with magical abilities, but despite its familiar premise, Ms. Lackey and Ms. Edghill infuse their world with a lingering darkness we've not encountered before. Instead of being a nurturing environment designed to foster trust and understanding of the use of magic, Oakhurst Academy has a rather sinister edge where students are discouraged from forming tight friendships and are forced into rigorous training programs with instructors who don't spout words of encouragement, but rather speak harsher truths presumably designed to hasten improvement. As a result of this unnerving situation, we feel Spirit and the other student's sense of profound isolation much more vividly, the remote locale of the school echoed in the cold teaching methods and lack of student-instructor positive interaction, and we are left with an intentional sense of unease as the physical and emotional coolness mists from the pages and sinks deep into our bones, chilling us to the core as magic and mystery unfold.

Though the suspense surrounding the disappearing students is well-executed with clues deftly woven throughout, this is the type of story that's engaging while we're reading–keeping us questioning how each revelation fits with the one before–but when we finish we come to realize we don't have nearly as much information as we thought we did. We scan the final page with the hope a book dealing with magic might have the answers we seek secretly hidden and is just waiting to reveal them to us until we've wished for them hard enough. While we do discover the who/what is behind the disappearances and a fraction of the why, so many of the fundamental issues remain shrouded in darkness, denying us the warmth understanding provides and leaving us shivering on the outside wondering when of if we'll be brought into the fold.

Because this is the first book in a series, some unanswered questions are to be expected and ultimately necessary so the series can continue, but in addition to several facets of the disappearance mystery remaining completely unknown, we also learn very little about the purpose for the school itself. We are told initially it's to help train students in their magical abilities so they can defend themselves against those who would use magic to harm them, but we are given no details about either the aforementioned villains or the impending war we're told is coming. Why is this war happening now? Have the two factions always been at war? Furthermore, the title of this series is the "Shadow Grail" novels, yet in this first installment no mention is made of a Shadow Grail outside of its appearance on the school's coat of arms, leaving us with still another question as to why this object is important enough as to name the series, but not important enough to introduce in this first book.

Overall, Legacies is an interesting read, one where a dark plot is beautifully revealed and where a romance is not the primary focus, but rather is refreshingly replaced by the bonds of friendship between five gifted individuals. Because the story is engrossing while we're in the middle of it, the long line of unanswered questions only becoming bothersome upon conclusion, it is a series worth continuing in the hope so much information is withheld purposefully. We walk away from this tale longing to shed our jackets, hats, and gloves, leaving them behind in the cold environment of the unknown as we are finally welcomed inside Oakhurst Academy to become privy to her secrets and the secrets of the people she houses.

I like the sound of a dark plot with developed characters, but I will admit that it sounds a bit like the same-old, same-old. I'm dying for something completely new to throw the YA genre for a loop these days, you know? Fabulous honest review, Jenny! :)

This doesn't sound like anything new - in fact, I just recently read Haven which this sounds a little similar to with the magical boarding school and all that, but I do have a soft spot for boarding school paranormals so I might just check this out sometime.

Thanks for the great review, Jenny. I hadn't heard of this one before!

Despite the reservations, this sounds like a very interesting read! I like the fact that there seems to be this encouraged edge within the school - sort of reminds me of The Hunger Games tributes - you want to be friendly, but in reality, these people are out for your life, is that right? Wonderful review, Jenny. I hadn't heard of this one before, but now I am intrigued.

I like the sound of this, but I think I will read it when it's Halloween. ;) Yesterday I watched a horror movie and was reminded why I do not like those kind of movies. Even though it doesn't sound that scary, I really want to give it a try. Great review!

Linds - From what I gathered while reading, it's not so much the students that don't want to get to know one another, but the teachers not wanting the students to bond. There's something weird going on with the higher ups in this book, we just don't know what yet:)

Midnyte - It's not one I would rush to read, it can definitely wait until more of the series is released:)

Jenny - I'm a big fan of the creepy/magical boarding schools, that's why I requested this one, but there were way more questions than answers which is always frustrating.

Nina - Good idea! It's not super scary, it just has an eerie vibe to it:)

Hm... I'll have to think about this one. Maybe wait until more of the series is out. I get frustrated with so little needed information. Great review. I do like the idea of darkness that surrounds the story. :)

Great review, Jenny! I'm starting to see quite a few boarding school stories in the YA genre, and this one sounds a little like Haven in the sense that it's also full of students with abilities. I like boarding school stories but having so many questions remain unanswered is just going to bug me. I think I'll skip this one (unless the second book is amazing).

Hmm, sounds like a pretty good book, but it's too bad so much it left up in the air. I guess that can be expected in a series, but I love it when most of a storyline is still resolved in a first book, with only the bigger plot continuing on.

Well, I have to say that it sounds rather frustrating that so much is left unanswered. I understand that some questions need to be left open for the sequels but I really believe that the fundamental issues should be somewhat resolved before the next book.